An unscrupulous landlord who left his tenants living in rodent infested conditions has been ordered to pay almost £60,000.

A court heard how Arbab Ahmed, of Eastern Avenue in Ilford, permitted his tenants to live in “atrocious conditions” with people “sleeping next to rodent droppings”.

Ahmed, who rented two properties on Vicarage Road in Leyton, was found guilty of ten housing violations at Stratford Magistrates Court.

Ahmed’s failures to properly protect tenants came to the council’s attention in June 2019 following a complaint by a tenant.

An investigation found Ahmed had split the building into two properties, including having a “poorly adapted shop premises” on the ground floor which was occupied by a family.

The upstairs flat was found to have been rented out to six men, including two in what was described as a “tiny attic”.

Officers also found evidence the property was rodent-infested, had inadequate locks to the ground floor flat, cracked tiles in the bathrooms and leaking waste pipes to the ground floor bathroom.

A defective smoke alarm to the ground floor hallway, a faulty boiler and lack of fire doors were among some of the other issues found.

A Prohibition Order was eventually issued by the council preventing the ground floor commercial unit from being used as resident accommodation. It also imposed an Interim Management Order for the first floor flat, allowing Waltham Forest council to take full management control of it.

Under the order, Ahmed was forbidden to access the property or contact, harass or bully the tenants living in it.

But he was found to have flouted it and kept in custody for a seven-day period as part of a separate action in 2019.

Ahmed’s managing agent Eden Homes pleaded guilty at Straford Magistrates to three charges and he was sentenced in his absence.

Cllr Louise Mitchell, Waltham Forest Council’s cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness Prevention, said: “Arbab Ahmed is among the worst of the worst landlords that our team has ever encountered – and the District Judge certainly agreed.

“The tenants in his property were living in appalling, dangerous and unsanitary conditions, and when they raised complaints, they were harassed by the landlord as he tried to avoid taking responsibility for his actions.

“We will always use the full extent of our powers to crack down on landlords who try to exploit their tenants, but cases like this show once again the very real need to ensure that landlords are registered, so that people like Ahmed are stopped from treating innocent people in this way.”

Ahmed was fined £45,000 and he ordered to pay the council’s costs of £14,404.08.

Eden Homes was also fined £3,700 with a victim surcharge of £180 and also ordered to pay £1,557 towards the council’s costs.